The present invention relates to a device for displaying the time of parking of a vehicle by placing the device on the screen of the vehicle.
Especially in some urban areas with parking regulations, the drive of a vehicle is obliged to use a parking discs to display the time of parking when parking the vehicle in parking areas with a parking time limit. For this purpose, parking discs are used. The parking disc is usually placed in the upper or lower corner the front screen in such a way that it is clearly visible from the outside. The parking disc comprises a dial with the face of a clock and a hand that is manually set by the driver of the vehicle at the time of parking.
It has been known to happen that a driver forgets to set the parking disc which may result in a parking fine to the driver or owner of the vehicle. In order to overcome this risk, various ideas have been exercised in order to provide an automatic system for setting the parking time of the vehicle. The automatic time displaying device typically comprises display means which receives a timer signal from time signal generation means via control means, said control means being connected to the ignition system of the vehicle in such a way that the update of the time display is frozen once the ignition of the vehicle is turned off.
However, these automatic systems involve some serious drawbacks and have not been allowed by traffic and/or parking authorities so far. A problem with the known devices for automatically displaying the time of parking is that the systems are not tamper proof. In order to allow parking displaying devices, the authorities must have a guarantee that the displayed time reflects the actual time of parking.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a device for displaying the parking time of a vehicle which cannot be tampered with by the driver, thus ensuring that the parking time displayed reflects the actual time of parking.
This object is achieved by a device for displaying the time of parking of a vehicle by placing the device on the screen of the vehicle, said device comprising display means which receives a timer signal from a time signal generation means via control means, said control means being connected to the ignition system of the vehicle to such a way that the update of the time display is frozen once the ignition of the vehicle is turned off, and in such a way that the control means are adapted to receiving the time signal from an external signal generation means.
By a device according to the present invention, the displayed time at which the vehicle containing the device is parked is reliable as far as the time of parking is concerned since the time signal is received from an external source and can therefore not be manipulated before being displayed. By using an external time signal representing the actual present time, a device according to the invention is automatically adjusted in accordance with the actual time zone which the vehicle is in, i.e. change between summer and winter time is automatically adjusted. Moreover, the device may also be adapted to receiving position related data, so that an adjustment of the displayed time may automatically be made if the vehicle enters a new time zone. A device according to the invention thus provides as a fully automatic device for displaying the time of parking whereby the risk of forgetting to the set parking time is eliminated.
As long as the ignition is on and the engine is running, the externally generated time signal updates the display via the control means so that the time shown on the display reflects the present time in hours and minutes. Once the ignition is turned off, the time on the display will be xe2x80x9cfrozenxe2x80x9d, so that the time displayed reflects the time when the ignition was turned off. This time corresponds to the time of parking of the vehicle.
The external time signal source could preferably be a radio signal transmitted from a radio or satellite transmitter, such as the known central time signal generators transmitting the time signal generated by an atomic clock to various other time displaying means, e.g. watches, etc. Other time signal sources could be satellites used for GPS navigation. The time signals as well as the position data from such sources cannot be manipulated due to the nature of the signal generation.
Preferably, the control means comprises an antenna for receiving an external time signal which feeds the received signal to a receiver provided with one or more crystals, and a microprocessor that receives a digitized signal from the receiver and updates the display means in accordance with collected data of the ignition state and the execution of an operation program. The antenna, the receiver and the crystals are designed in accordance with the specific time signal to be received. The control means may be compact in design so that the device may be hidden behind a panel or the like in a vehicle.
The microprocessor may also include a memory for storing the time for updating the display means at a pre-determined time interval as long as the ignition of the vehicle is on and then updating the display again after the ignition has been turned off. Hereby, the device may be fully automatic so that the device is immediately ready again after having been in a parked state. The pre-determined time interval is initially set in accordance with regulative requirements, such as 15 minutes.
A manually operated switch may be provided in connection with the microprocessor in order to allow for adjustment of the time of parking manually. Hereby, the device may be manually operated e.g. if the vehicle is parked in between two updates or if the device is not capable of receiving a time signal, e.g. if the external source is out of order.
In the preferred embodiment, the display means comprises an LCD display with a translucent or transparent background. Hereby, the device blends in with the surroundings and does only block a minor part of the front screen visually.
The display means preferably comprises both an outwardly and an inwardly facing display making it easy to check if the display is correctly set when the car is parked.
In a preferred embodiment, at least one display, preferably the outwardly facing display, is a clock dial. This design involves graphic representation of time and makes it easy for a parking officer to visually check the time of arrival in the parking slot.
The inwardly facing display may preferably be an LCD display with four digits separated in pairs of two. This type of display facilitates checking of the time from inside the car and makes it easy to determine if an adjustment of the xe2x80x9cfrozenxe2x80x9d time in the display is required before vacating the car.
As an additional aspect of the above-mentioned embodiments, the device may also receive a data signal representing the position of the vehicle, and may be provided with data transmitting means for collecting arrival and departure time data when entering and leaving a geographically defined zone and subsequently transmitting said data to a central recording unit. In this embodiment, a device according to the invention may record and display the time of arrival in the parking slot while also recording the duration of the parking and/or time of presence in a particular location. Thus, it becomes possible to make automatic recordings of the time of presence within e.g. a geographically defined zone, such as an urban area, in which a system of road pricing is in force. Moreover, via the central recording unit, automatic debiting of the road pricing and/or parking fees from the drivers or vehicle owner""s bank account may be performed.